Johan Pitka

Johan Pitka (19 February 1872-September 1944) was a Rear Admiral of Estonia during the Estonian War of Independence and World War II.

Biography
Johan Pitka was born on 19 February 1872 in Jalgsema, Estonia. In 1895, he was the first ship captain to pass through the Kiel Canal in the German Empire, and from 1904 to 1911 he lived in the United Kingdom. In 1918, he headed back to a newly-independent Estonia and helped in organizing the Estonian Defense League due to the German Empire's occupation and the outbreak of the Russian Civil War nearby, and he built five armored trains during the Estonian War of Independence against the Soviet Union. In December 1919, Pitka also became commander-in-chief of the Estonian Navy, capturing Narva from the Soviets and Riga from the Baltische Landeswehr in 1919. He briefly lived in Canada before returning to Estonia, and he organized resistance against the USSR during their occupation of his country. He was killed in action in a battle with the Red Army in September 1944, having gone missing in the following years.